


Polarize

by SlytherclawHomunculus



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: A snippit of a re-write AU thing, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bittersweet Ending, Gen, Unalaq and Tonraq have an actual relationship, Unalaq as a Tragic Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24757111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlytherclawHomunculus/pseuds/SlytherclawHomunculus
Summary: PolarizeVerb.Divide or cause to divide into two sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions or beliefs.Tonraq and Unalaq, once close brothers, slowly drift apart due to the spiritual divide between them.
Relationships: Unalaq & Tonraq
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	Polarize

**Author's Note:**

> So, I have been bouncing around this idea in my head of doing a LoK re-write AU thing for a while now, and one of the ideas that I've been entertaining was Unalaq not being evil. Also, Vaatu not being evil. But both of them being corrupted by madness of some kind.
> 
> And that kind of lent itself to the idea of, well how about giving Unalaq and Tonraq an actual relationship instead of just "I don't very much care for you brother."
> 
> And then my brain did this. :D

"Tonraq! Tonraq, wake up!" The young waterbender in question sat up, rubbing an eye.

" _ Una _ ?" He asked drowsily. He snapped to awareness once he saw the fear in his younger brother's eyes. The boy placed a pair of steadying hands on Unalaq's quaking shoulders. "Una, what's wrong?"

"They came into my room again. I told them to leave me alone, but they kept following me!" His lip quivered, and his eyes were wet with unshed tears. Tonraq frowned. It seemed that Unalaq's imaginary friends were bullying him  _ again _ . He sighed and scooted over for Unalaq to sleep next to him. The boy spared no time in hopping up onto the bed and burying his face into his brother's chest. Tonraq rubbed soothing circles into his shaking brother's back. He shushed his quiet whimpers and stifled sobs. He looked up, and  _ glared  _ into the darkness.

Tonraq wasn't one for believing in spirits, it all seemed kinda silly to him. He didn't think they were  _ actually  _ real. Just stories the adults made to keep little kids like them in line. But he supposed that didn't matter, they were real to Unalaq. So they were real enough to warrant protecting him against. He continued to hold his brother close, until the boy eventually went back to sleep. He continued to hold him close for the rest of that night.

_ He'd protect his brother, always. _

X~X

"Hey Una, come on, it's a nice day outside! Wanna go sledding?"

Unalaq looked up at his older brother. "Uhm,  _ no _ . No thanks..." He turned back to staring at the empty spot in front of him. Tonraq frowned. Unalaq didn't seem to be doing anything,  _ unless _ ...

"Talking to your imaginary friends again?"

"They're  _ not  _ imaginary!" Unalaq huffed. "Just because  _ you  _ can't see them, doesn't mean they  _ aren't  _ there."

" _ Right _ ." Tonraq crossed his arms. "Just the spooky spirits and their spooky spiritness that only  _ you  _ can see or hear. Come on Una, maybe take an interest in something a little more,  _ tangible _ ?" He couldn't deny that he was worried for his little brother. He seemed  _ awfully withdrawn _ , more interested in something entirely intangible rather than the real world.

"The spirits are more important than the physical aspects of this world, Ton."

"Sure." He hated to be so dismissive, but Unalaq was slowly but surely becoming more reclusive, and his social skills left a lot to be desired, and Mom and Dad didn't seem to  _ notice or care- _

"You can move water with your mind, but spirits are too far fetched for you?"

"Well, I can see and feel waterbending." He accentuated his point by coating his arms with water and making ice daggers.

"Just." Una sounded frustrated now. "Just leave me  _ alone _ , brother."

Rejected, Tonraq left his brother be. He'd bring this up to their father, certainly there must've been some answer to why his brother was like this.

_ Thankfully _ , Father took Tonraq's concerns seriously and Unalaq was sent to see the Water Shamans.

However he felt little relief in learning that his brother really was communicating with spirits. On the one hand, it meant that Unalaq  _ wasn’t  _ slowly spiraling into madness, on the other, spiritual training was  _ intense _ . It would mean that they had  _ even less _ time to spend together. He could also scarcely imagine anything worse than sacrificing your childhood for serious meditation and spiritual study. Where’s the action? Where’s the  _ fun _ ?

X~X

Tonraq made a face as he flexed his muscles. His defeated friend lying underneath him.

“Okay, okay.” The young teen relented. “You win, Tonraq!” Tonraq let out a bark of a laugh and helped the boy up.

“Told you, I’m stronger and faster. The best warrior in the north!” Tonraq took a pose, his friend blew his hair out of his face, dusting the snow off himself.

“You have got to be the most  _ non-bender _ waterbender ever.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” His friends burst into laughter.

“Brother.” Tonraq’s friends abruptly went quiet, the air going from light hearted and joyous to tense in a fraction of a second.

“Uhh, something wrong Una?” the young teen asked, put off by how grave everyone was suddenly acting.

“It’s time for dinner, your food is going to get cold.”

“ _ Oh _ . Um, thanks Una. I’ll be home in a few minutes.”

Unalaq passed Tonraq’s friends a glance, before shuffling off. Once the young waterbender was out of earshot, the group collectively let out a sigh of relief. One of the boys  _ shuttered _ .

“Gee, man. I don’t see how you can live with that guy.”

“Who?  _ Una _ ? He’s my brother. I kinda have to.”

“I know, man. He’s  _ sooo  _ creepy. How do you do it?”

“Whoa, that’s my  _ brother  _ you’re talking about. I  _ don’t _ appreciate you talking about him like that. You don’t even  _ know  _ him.”

“Come on, Tonraq. You can’t deny that he’s a  _ spooky weirdo _ . I mean the guy always has that creepy ass  _ blank  _ look on his face, and he’s always  _ lurking  _ around by himself, and he never really talks to anyone, he only ever communicates with spirits. The guy’s a  _ freakshow _ .”

“Maybe if you  _ cowards  _ ever got to know him, you’d realize he’s a really nice guy.” Tonraq growled. “Anyway, I gotta go.” His friends tried to call after him, but Tonraq wasn’t about to just stand there and listen to his brother’s name get dragged through the mud.

X~X

Maybe Unalaq wasn’t the  _ friendliest  _ or most  _ openly affectionate _ of people, but Tonraq knew that he  _ genuinely  _ cared about him. All the times when he would quietly listen to him go on about his problems, the many, many times that he’d sit patiently and heal his injuries after Tonraq had gone and done something stupid. Only ever lightly scolding him about being so reckless. He even offered advice, not that Tonraq ever took it. Una’s advice was all about spirituality and quiet reflection. When he offered something for hitting stuff harder, maybe Tonraq would find it in himself to listen.

Even in the quiet moment between them now. Tonraq sat quietly, face reddened and swollen with fading bruises as Unalaq ran a healing hand over the injuries. Of course, Unalaq was the one to break the silence.

“You don’t need to fight everyone that makes fun of me, brother.”

“Well, what  _ else  _ is the big bro supposed to do?” Tonraq pouted, his speech slightly slurred from a combo of the damage to his face and the numbness from Unalaq’s healing.

“I’m  _ fifteen _ , not  _ five _ , Ton. I can handle a few mean words being tossed my way.”

“ _ Still doesn’t make it right… _ ”

Una’s only reply to this was a simple shrug. Tonraq frowned. He knew that under his brother’s stoic exterior, the cruel way some people had treated him did  _ hurt  _ him. He still had feelings, even if he didn’t care to  _ show  _ them. The elder brother decided to change the subject.

“Well, at least I have  _ you  _ to patch me up when I do dumb stuff.”

Unalaq’s mouth stiffened, trying to stifle a smile.

_ Gotcha _ .

“Well, maybe I wouldn’t have to heal my idiot brother all the time if he wasn’t a complete  _ meathead  _ who only ever used his bending for hitting stuff.”

“But  _ Unaaaaa _ , that’s the best paaaart.”

“Don’t you ‘but Una’ me.” He frowned comically, pointing with his free hand and looking like he was trying really hard to not laugh. A small smile settled on the younger brother’s face. “And besides, you really could benefit from at least opening up a little to the  _ less physical _ side of bending.”

“ _ Not this again. _ ” Tonraq sighed.

“Ton, I’m serious.” He let out a steadying breath. “Look, you don’t have to go in super deep, but a  _ little spirituality _ can only help you-”

“ _ Unalaq _ .”

“You can’t just punch all of your problems.”

“Oh yeah?  _ Watch me. _ ” Tonraq said defiantly, pulling away from his brother.

X~X

Time went on and Unalaq only further dedicated himself to his studies. Meanwhile, Tonraq focused on his warrior training. They remained fairly amiable. But the older brother could feel a growing rift between them. Unalaq believed so strongly in the value of spirituality, but Tonraq could never bring himself to really see the point in it.

X~X

There were some barbarian rogues hiding out in the forest. General Tonraq rode into battle and defeated them handily, but it came at the cost of destroying the forest. Of course, Unalaq  _ couldn’t  _ just be happy for him, he was too busy being worried about how destroying that place had “angered the spirits”. He shrugged off his brother’s concerns, he had a solstice celebration to work on planning as well as other, more  _ tangible  _ things to worry about.

But then the solstice came, and the spirits attacked. They destroyed half of the city, gravely injuring many. Tonraq did his best against the spirits, but he couldn’t help but hear his brother’s words echo in his head every time his attacks would do barely anything against the spirits.

_ “You can’t just punch all of your problems.” _

In the end, Unalaq managed to pacify the spirits and save the north. He was a  _ hero _ , but-

“Unalaq, do you understand the severity of your actions?”

“ _ Yes _ , Father.”

Tonraq had been preoccupied, and slightly late to the meeting.

Or rather, his brother’s  _ sentencing _ .

“Because of your actions, the north was nearly destroyed!”

“I am  _ sorry _ , Father.” His arms were folded neatly behind him, his head bowed slightly and his eyes downcast.

“Because you managed to pacify the spirits, I have decided to give you a lighter sentence-”

“Unalaq is  _ innocent _ ! He doesn’t deserve to pay for this crime!” Tonraq blurted out. Unalaq’s head snapped up, his normally composed face showing slight  _ distress  _ as he gazed at his brother. His eyes silently pleading.

_ Brother, DON’T. _

However, their father wanted to hear what Tonraq had to say.

“Really now? Then  _ who  _ is responsible?”

“No, Father it was  _ me _ .  _ I _ angered the spirits, I accept full responsibility for this crime-!”

The chief held up a hand to silence Unalaq.

Tonraq looked Unalaq in the eyes. His younger brother was shaking his head.

_ Don’t do it, Ton. _

But he wasn’t about to let Una take the fall for this.

“It was  _ me _ . There were barbarian rogues hiding out in the forest. Me and my men destroyed the place, flushing them out. Unalaq tried to warn me, but  _ I didn’t listen _ . It’s completely my fault.”

“Is this true Unalaq?”

“ _ I should have stopped- _ ”

“Is this  _ true _ , Unalaq?”

“Yes. It is, Father.”

“Go to your bed chamber, Unalaq. We will have a discussion about your  _ relationship with honesty _ later.”

Unalaq didn’t lift his head or shoulders as he shuffled out of the room. The chief looked Tonraq dead in the eyes.

“Tonraq, you are hereby  _ banished  _ from the Northern Water Tribe. You have a week to remove yourself from our lands or you will be  _ thrown in prison for treason _ . Am I understood?”

“ _ Yes, Father. _ ”

X~X

He moved southward, leaving all that was the north behind him. Perhaps it was the waterbender in him, just so instinctively drawn to snow and ice that made his decision to move to the South Pole of all places.

Or maybe some part of him just wanted to be as  _ far away from Unalaq as possible. _

Either way, he found himself even more at home in the south than he ever did northward. Now, these people, as much as some northerners liked to call them backwards or simple-folk, really knew how to live. They weren’t  _ extravagant  _ and  _ pretentious  _ like northerners. And they knew how to  _ properly appreciate _ a good warrior.

It was also in the south that Tonraq met the love of his life, a true flower of the tundra,  _ Senna _ .

Oh! Even saying her name was like a song of spring on his lips.  _ Sweet, sweet, Senna. _

They married, and made a home together. It wasn’t too long before they were preparing for a new addition to their humble little family.

Then, he received the letter.

Father had died, and Unalaq rescinded Tonraq’s banishment.

In other words, he was expecting him to come home and assume his place on the throne.

The only problem was that he was  _ happy  _ now. The happiest he’d ever been, honestly. He had a humble home and life, and a loving wife, and a child on the way.

So he wrote his brother back, telling him that he was staying in the south. Adjudicating his throne. Unalaq could have the north with it’s  _ pretentiousness  _ and  _ spirits _ . He’d stay in the south, in a humble, down to earth life with his lovely wife and he’d be there to raise their child together.

Unalaq’s letter back was rather  _ sternly  _ worded. And accusing Tonraq of many things, the sharpest of which being that he was running away from his duty as prince.

Tonraq didn’t dignify his brother with a reply, and burned further letters from the north.

He didn’t move to the other side of the world for his brother to  _ chastise  _ him some more.

X~X

Tonraq considers himself lucky. He managed to meet the man, the legend, Avatar Aang in the short time before his death. He seemed like such a sweet old man. Retired to the south with his wife, Katara. His health had been failing as of late.

He felt bad that Katara ended up missing her husband’s death, because she’d been helping Senna give birth. When he first heard that Aang had just passed, he thought it unfortunate that their new daughter Korra would never get to meet the man.

_ Then it hit him. _

X~X

“Long time, no see, brother.”

“ _ Unalaq _ .” Tonraq said simply. His brother seemed caught off guard by his hostility. Senna hit him in the shoulder and welcomed the northern chief into their humble abode. He hummed quietly as his eyes scanned their simple house. Tonraq  _ wanted  _ to think that his younger brother was judging him.

_ But he knew Una was a better man than that. _

It wasn’t long before Unalaq got right to the point.

“If you’ll let me, I’d like to take the Avatar back north with me to train in both water and spirituality.”

Senna seemed caught a little off guard. “So soon? She’s only a few years old-”

“No.” Tonraq cut his wife off. Eyes narrowed.

“No?”

“ _ No. _ ”

“The Avatar must be taught the ways of spirits they are the bridge between the human and spiritual-”

“Well, what if I don’t want her to turn out like  _ you _ .”

_ Wait, no that came out wrong- _

There was a hard silence. Unalaq’s stony face didn’t change expression, but Tonraq could see the  _ hurt  _ evident in his eyes.

“I’ll see myself out.”

That was the last time the two exchanged words for many years.

X~X

Korra takes after her father. She excels in the physical aspects of bending, but lacks  _ any  _ spiritual aptitude. To the point that her airbending is  _ borderline nonexistent _ . Tonraq feels like maybe spurning Unalaq’s offer may have been a  _ mistake _ . He had no doubts that the man would have made a fine spiritual adviser, and could have very well nurtured such a connection within Korra.

You see, it was one thing for  _ Tonraq  _ to lack spirituality. He was a simple waterbender. Just a man who could move water with his thoughts and a gesture.

But Korra was the  _ Avatar _ .

The bridge between the human and  _ spirit  _ worlds.

_ With no connection to spirits _ .

_ “You can’t just punch all of your problems.” _

Tonraq grimaced.

X~X

Korra was seventeen and her own person. And much too excited to hang out with her uncle for the Glacier Festival. As had become of them, the two brothers only exchanged a one-word greeting, before going back to casually ignoring the other’s existence.

Now that Korra had freed herself from the White Lotus and was making her own decisions on who would train her, Unalaq offered to mentor her on her spiritual issues.

And Korra, sweet, sweet, always looking for something new and exciting to try Korra, jumped at the opportunity.

Especially when Unalaq showed her his technique for pacifying spirits.

Tonraq tried to just ignore it all.

Well, there was one thing that was nagging him. Una seemed a bit  _ haggard _ . There were bags under his eyes, he seemed a little distracted.  _ Off in some way. _

Once again, Tonraq found himself  _ worrying  _ over his little brother.

X~X

Maybe Tonraq should have been  _ angry  _ that Unalaq had sent troops to occupy the south.

Maybe Tonraq should have been  _ incensed  _ that his own brother was prepared to have him sentenced to death.

Maybe he should have felt  _ some kind of way _ about the man starting a bloody conflict between their two tribes.

But as much as he  _ told himself _ he was angry, that his brother had become a  _ horrible _ man-

Deep, deep down, he was just so  _ concerned  _ for him. It was so  _ painfully _ obvious to Tonraq that Una’s mental state was  _ rapidly  _ deteriorating. The bags under his eyes worsened, his gaze grew  _ hazy  _ and  _ unfocused _ . He became increasingly  _ paranoid _ ,  _ reclusive  _ and  _ skittish _ . The elder brother’s fellow southerners wanted to  _ dispose  _ of the man. End him  _ permanently _ . But ultimately, Tonraq could never find it in his heart to hurt or even  _ hate  _ him to any real degree. Poor Una was  _ ill _ , that much was clear.

But for  _ how long _ had these issues been stirring? Had Tonraq been  _ right  _ to feel concern over his brother’s conversations with nothing?

A deep, dark part of him hissed that all of this was  _ all  _ his fault. Unalaq had been ill all this time, and the stress of having to lead the north combined with being so openly rejected by his  _ own brother _ had been the final nail in his sanity’s coffin.

He was  _ ill  _ and  _ suffering  _ for La knows how long, meanwhile Tonraq was busy playing house in the south.

But now, what was there  _ to  _ do?

He couldn’t help but be tormented by his brother’s words again.

_ “You can’t just punch all of your problems.” _

X~X

It was over. Finally over. And, apparently, the reason for Unalaq’s strange behavior was that he was being taken over by a corrupted spirit. A gigantic, primordial being named Vaatu. Una had been trying to purify the thing, help it in some way, and had ended up being taken over instead. Korra told her father through tears that she had  _ tried  _ to save him, but the purification just turned him to  _ dust _ , nothing left behind. She sobbed into her father’s chest as he rubbed soothing circles into her back. He assured her it wasn’t  _ her  _ fault, she’d done all she could.

After all, deep down Tonraq knew  _ he’d  _ been the one at fault.

He  _ failed  _ to protect his little brother.

He acted unaffected.

_ “You can’t just punch all of your problems.” _

He wanted to scream.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a Tumblr where I post things, come and talk to me about AUs and such. :D 
> 
> https://carnistcervine.tumblr.com/


End file.
